The Bugaboo was born out of Mr. Barenbrug’s graduation project in 1994. However, there was a period between 2009 and 2010 when he was not chief executive and the revenue of the company was going down. Ultimately, because of declining product quality, falling profits and increasing personal misery, he returned to the post. Only one year, the revenues in 2012 were €94m, increased from €82m in 2011. What are the key reasons that Mr. Barenbrug can lead his company to success again?
Firstly, Mr. Barenbrug has a clear positioning of brand. Just as he said ” I am in charge of the conceptual development and make sure that all the products have excitement and are better than their competitors.”. He tries his best to maintain the quality of the stroller is the best in U.S. For this reason, he owns Bugaboo’s factory in China to maintain quality and calling it the “basis for our success”. This is absolute correct because the success of a brand usually is due to its being first in the market rather than the marketing abilities of company.
Secondly, it is obvious that Mr. Barenbrug avoids the free-ride trap. When a company have built a wide range of product on a single brand name, it is better to use a new brand name when the company is going to introduce an new product because a single brand name cannot hold a multiple positions;either the new product will not be successful or the original product bearing the name will lose its leadership position. Therefore, when he was considering the wary of the PR machine’s role in advertising the brand, he strongly disagree with the idea that give away strollers because it’s hype that can easily transfer to another product.
In general, the positioning of a brand is very necessary and needed. It is quite difficult to change consumer’s impression once it is formed. Therefore, companies should have a clear idea of their brand’s position so that consumer can easily understanding what are the features and functions of products.